Material holding implement

Abstract

A material holding implement including a material holding member adapted for holding a material. The material holding member is made of a thermoplastic resin. The thermoplastic resin is deformable to a material holding configuration at a temperature greater than a constant temperature, and fixable to form a material holding region adapted to apply holding forces on a circumference of the material in a using temperature range lower than the constant temperature. Furthermore, a method of changing a form of the material holding member is provided. The method includes softening the resin by increasing a temperature above the constant temperature, molding the resin into a flat plate by pinching together upper and lower dies having flat surfaces opposing each other, pinching the resin using the upper and lower dies to form a material holding configuration, and fixing the resin by decreasing the temperature below a softening point of the resin.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A material holding implement comprising: 
       a material holding member adapted for holding a material, said material holding member being made of a thermoplastic resin,  
       wherein said thermoplastic resin is deformable to a material holding configuration conformable to a desirable material configuration at a temperature higher than a certain temperature, and fixable in said material holding configuration to form a material holding region adapted to apply holding forces on a circumference of the material in a using temperature range lower than the certain temperature, wherein said material holding member comprises a plurality of thermoplastic resin plates, each of said thermoplastic resin plates being radially arranged about said material holding region.  
     
     
       2. The material holding implement according to  claim 1 , wherein each of said thermoplastic resin plates has a distal end part facing said material holding region, and wherein each distal end part has a flat plate form. 
     
     
       3. A material holding implement comprising: 
       a base; and  
       a plurality of plates arranged about a perimeter of a material holding region, said plurality of plates having a first end mounted to said base and a distal end facing said material holding region,  
       wherein said plurality of plates are made of a thermoplastic resin, and  
       wherein said thermoplastic resin is deformable to a material holding configuration at a temperature greater than a predetermined temperature, and fixable to the material holding configuration at a temperature below the predetermined temperature.  
     
     
       4. The material holding implement according to  claim 3 , wherein each of said plurality of plates are radially arranged about said material holding region. 
     
     
       5. The material holding implement according to  claim 4 , wherein each distal end part has a flat plate form.